


Angelic Misconceptions

by Galactic_Bean



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22453201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galactic_Bean/pseuds/Galactic_Bean
Summary: Lance, the angel?
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

"... He's the one..."

"All the legends passed down..."

"... The Galra."

"The prophecy..."

She rubbed her thumb along his cheek and smiled ever so softly at him. Her baby. Her precious son. She would love him with all her heart.

The life he was going to lead.

She brought him close to her chest and held him so tight, never wanting to let him go. The moment would last forever in her mind, even if he could never remember it.

He was her baby.

***

Lance was always fascinated by humans and their funny little ways. He was always watching them and being immortal, would always be able to. The idea that their lives came to an end was a strange concept to him, there were no exceptions and he couldn't wrap his head around it. Of course, angels could die, many did during the times of war; for they were not infinitely powerful.

Angels like Lance were always being told off by superiors, he was always dancing around the edge of the rules as he was a firm believer that rules were made to be broken. He consistently broke rules about visiting humans on Earth. Their race lived in a separate realm to humans although it was a bit like a one-sided mirror. For Lance could walk among humans and they would never be able to see him whereas he saw and heard everything they said and did. The angel's realm was beautiful. Everything filled with green, the sky a sparkling blue. The angels loved their realm it felt like it was made out of jewels, everything was perfect.

At first he looked at the beauty of human life, young children playing in a wonderfully green parks filled with laughter and fun, he always wished he could join them. Then the further he explored, the worse things got. Starving children, murder, rape. It traumatised him. When he got home after that day he collapsed in his mother's arms, promising he would never leave or break the rules again. She squeezed him tight and held him close. With time, he grew to accept that as human nature but he never forgot the things he saw, they were branded into his memory.

However, it gave Lance the burning desire to protect. He had a large family with many brothers and sisters and his best friend Hunk. Hunk could be described as a gentle giant, love overflowing in his heart. He always cheered Lance up on a bad day. He was basically a brother to Lance as they spent nearly every waking minute together. Angels were similar to humans socially, they all wanted a family and friends. The real differences came down to the fact they had wings and more power.

"Hey Lance, what's up buddy?" Hunk sat down opposite Lance in the small cafe with two mugs of steaming coffee and a plate with the biggest cookies he'd ever seen. Hunk always knew the best places to eat. He loved this cafe, it was rustic, wooden floors and metal tables. Splashes of white paint across the walls added to the feeling of it with long, green plants overflowing in their pots.

"Not much. Life's been pretty bland since my training finished," he picked up a cookie and eagerly took a bite. Angels enjoyed many human traditions and food and their lives were lived very similarly.

"Decided what sector you want to go into yet?" Hunk asked. There were five sectors Chief Angel Allura had set up; green, blue, yellow, red and black. Green was for inventors, blue was explorers, yellow was for healers, red for fighters and black was for training new recruits.

"I'm pretty sure I want to be an explorer. I want to find somewhere completely new, a place no ones been before..." Lance trailed off in thought. Where are would he begin to look for somewhere new anyway?

"You would be great at that. I definitely want to be a healer. I just want to help people." Hunk replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Of course you do you're one of the most selfless guys I've ever known!" Lance smiled at him, "I almost don't want to grow up... We won't be able to see each other as much. We'll have to be working angels. I hate that."

"Yeah me too... it's just life I guess," Hunk said, almost with a hint of sadness. The two boys chattered on into the afternoon talking about their future and laughing about nostalgic memories.

***

Keith Kogane lay on his lumpy bed in his run down apartment, turning a letter over in his fingers over and over. A difficult day now lay behind him and he felt numb and tired. He did not want to read the bullshit letter from his mother. His eyes felt heavy with sleep and he rubbed them vigorously, almost wanting to cry. On the outside Keith was a serious and seemingly emotionless man, numb to all pain, harsh and critical of everyone, full of sarcasm. Only one person knew the real, emotional wreck he was and Keith intended to keep it that way.

The day that had just passed had been difficult at best. Keith had lashed out at multiple people and ticked off many superiors at the Garrison. He wasn't even sure if he was welcome back there. He felt a surge of anger and crumpled the letter in his hand, he of all people knew the injustice of life, most people at the Garrison were snobs who were dealt an easy hand at life. He had been given all the bad cards and he felt cheated. Broken home, no friends, forever a loner. How was this fair? It wasn't. Keith knew that. He had worked twice as hard to get where he was today and he was about to lose it all.

Reluctantly, Keith unfolded the letter and ripped it open. He scanned it quickly:

Dear Keith,

I know me sending you this is the last thing you want right now. But I want to say that I'm sorry for the life you have because of me.

However, I'm in town and I was wondering if you wanted to meet for coffee? Please, give me one more chance... Grandma's death is hitting me hard and you're the last family I have left. Please Keith, think about it.

Love mum.

Keith shredded it. How did she have the audacity to send that? His eyes started burning, "I haven't heard from her for a year and now she sends me this," he muttered to himself, "of course I don't want to meet her!" He sat up and slammed his fist against the wall, recoiling in pain. "Ow... shit." Hot tears started sliding down his flushed cheeks; he cradled his hand against his chest. He was glad he lived alone.

What if she showed up on his doorstep? She obviously knew where he lived. Keith's tears started streaming down his face as memories came flooding back to him. He grabbed his phone from his bedside table and his hovered over Shiro's name. He wanted and didn't want to call him at the same time. Shiro was his family and he didn't want to push him away. He tapped his phone and listened to the ringing.

"Hello?" Shiro's voice sounded tinny through the microphone of Keith's old phone.

"Hi... Can you come over? My mum sent me a letter and... and I need you right now," Keith stuttered. He took some deep breaths to try and pull himself together.

"I'll be right over."

Shiro was always there for him. Keith managed to slow his breathing. He closed his eyes and lay back down on his bed, immediately feeling himself drifting off, his hand was throbbing but he didn't care. His breathing slowed and he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angry Keith. Confused Lance.

The sun was out in the light blue sky, brightly shining as it always was, radiating a heat that battled a cool breeze; a few pure white clouds drifted through the sky, adding to the beautiful scenery. Lance lifted his head, his dark brown hair ruffled slightly by the gentle wind. He stretched out his wings, his silver feathers glinting in the sunlight and breathed in the sweet, clean air.

"Showing off your wings are you?"

Lance whipped around as he heard a female voice call out to him.

"A-Allura?" He said felt himself flush a deep red as he stuttered. It was the Chief Angel, Allura. She was beautiful; dark, clear skin which contrast against her thick white hair and pale blue eyes that sparkled like stars in the night sky.

"That's me!" Allura brightly smiled at him, "I can show off mine too, y'know." She winked at him and snapped open her golden wings. They were delicate but Lance could see the well defined muscle that showed the strength she truly had.

"You know, the colour of your wings can tell you a lot about an angel," Lance twitched his wings nervously but he managed to pull himself together.

"Gold means you're of royal blood. Silver is certainly a rare colour though," Allura glanced over his wings and touched her hand up against them. "Blue, red, yellow and green are less rare but still beautiful. Black's one of my favourite's though, even though that is the rarest colour."

Lance blushed furiously at her gentle touch and Allura giggled.

Is she flirting with me?

Suddenly, Allura launched herself into the sky, "come fly with me!" she called out behind her and Lance didn't hesitate to follow, taking a running leap into the air. Any other angel would be so jealous right now, Allura was a role model to everyone as her dad had played an important part in the Galra wars. Unfortunately, his death had nearly resulted in the end of the angelic race but in the time of need Allura had stepped up in his place. With her inspiration and power she led the Altean's to victory.

During the war, the population of angels dwindled greatly as many were slaughtered by Zarkon, Lance was part of a new generation and he'd only been alive for seventeen years, unlike Allura who had been around for nearly 10,000. As angels are immortal, unless killed, they finished ageing at about twenty, looking young forever and ever.

The two angels glided through the sky, the tips of their wings brushing against each. "Now Lance, there's something I need to talk to you about." Allura spoke solemnly, the tone changing to something serious. This worried Lance, he felt nervous, like something wrong was about to happen. He trusted Allura but something felt off.

"What? Why me? Is something wrong?" Lance felt a wave of anxiety fill him up.

"Not exactly... Not yet."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lance felt uneasy, a slight tension grew between them and Lance veered off to the side slightly.

"Just... Something-"

Lance felt his wings stiffen, a searing pain jolt through his head. He felt the world go fuzzy, like white noise, anything Allura was saying sounded distant. His muscles felt weak, like everything was cramping, he made a faint whining noise before he started to drop out of the sky.

"Lance? Lance!"

Everything faded as Lance slipped into a dream world.

***

Purple lightening bolts struck all the surrounding areas, there were shouts and screams from adults and children alike. Lance threw his hands to his ears trying to block out the carnage, the sound of their civilisation being torn apart. Everything he knew was dying, their whole realm sinking into darkness.

Falling to his knees on the crumbling ground he wrapped himself in his wings, holding himself tight.

Amethyst fire spread throughout the town as the desperate cries died out.

He was trapped.

The only sound was crackling fire, the ashes swirling around him became distant shadows of people he once knew and loved.

Lance did the only thing he could. Run. Fly. Escape.

He tried beating his powerful wings but they felt sluggishly slow. He twisted round and to see the purple spread through them. Like an infection. A disease.

His vision became tainted with the darkness and he yelled out for help. Everything became darker and fright enveloped his trembling body.

"Someone... Please."

There was a whispering in response. He pricked his ears out, listening to the quiet voices carefully.

"Why didn't you save us Lance?"

"You didn't fulfil the prophecy."

"You let us die."

"What was I meant to do? What could I do?" He sobbed. It felt like a million hands were clawing at him, trying to rip through his skin, reach his heart. The voices carried on in his ears, getting louder and louder until they were screaming.

Someone brushed a gentle hand against his face and everything stopped in an instant. Lance tried to reach out, but couldn't feel anything.

"Don't worry, I-..." The voice started.

It was cut off the wind sweeping it away, hand and all.

"No! Wait, come back." Lance screamed into the empty abyss.

***

Keith jolted awake, his head felt like it was burning.

"You okay?" Shiro poked his head round the door.

"Yeah... I'm fine." Keith reached his hand to his head, "I think I had one too many shots yesterday..." He grumbled, fumbling in his bedside table for some medicine.

"You can't just drink whenever your mother had contact with you. I dread to think what you would've done if I hadn't shown up," Shiro sighed, "I'm making you some fried eggs, it will do you good."

Keith made some unintelligible mumbling noise as he slowly sat up; he ran his hand through his greasy, black hair and yawned. "Thanks, Shiro. I'm going to have a shower." Keith stumbled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom.

Switching on the light, Keith looked at himself in the mirror. Heavy purple bays hung under his dark brown eyes and his hair was sticking out all over the place. After turning on the shower he undressed himself and stepped into the steaming water. The feeling of the heat relaxed his muscles and he let his mind wander.

After his shower Keith went and sat next to Shiro at the breakfast table and started munching on his eggs and chugging his orange juice. "You know, I had the weirdest dream last night..." Keith said through a mouthful of food.

"What happened?" Shiro asked with curiosity.

"Nothing really... There was lots of purple fire. There was this bright light and I woke up. Dreams are weird, huh," he wiped his mouth on his sleeve as he sat back, satisfied with breakfast.

"They certainly are." Shiro responded slowly, he was leaning on his chin and looked distant in thought.

"It doesn't mean anything though. It's just a dream." Keith glanced at the clock, "oh crap I'm going to be late for the Garrison." He jumped out of his chair and grabbed his bag and ran to the door. "You don't mind cleaning up right? Thanks!"

He flung open the door and ran straight into a woman standing there.

"Mum?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter!! hope everyone enjoyssss :))) Also the action will pick up dont worry!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You can see me?"  
> "Of course I can, I'm not blind."

Keith stared in horror at the petite woman standing in front of him. Her skin was old and wrinkled and her hair was thinning but her eyes were a dark brown, matching his colour. They looked shockingly similar, even down to the bags under their eyes. Keith instantly knew who this woman was.

"Leave. Me. Alone," Keith grimaced through gritted teeth. "I'll never forgive you for what you did to me." His eyes filled with tears and he was ashamed with himself for wanting to cry in front of her.

"Keith, please..." his mother's voice came out croaky and she lifted a frail hand out to him and grabbed a handful of his red jacket. "You don't need to run away again. Please."

Keith shook her off him harshly, he stared at her and felt his a tear drip down his cheek. He couldn't be here right now, he had to get away. He barged past her and took of down the stairs of his apartment building. Behind him he heard Shiro's concerned voice calling for him but Keith ignored him and carried on running, he felt so weak. Crying like this in front of people? It's horrible. He never showed his emotions and for good reason, if he let people close to him he just got hurt. She, that monster, ruined his life. Everything was her fault, she ruined his chances at ever having a stable relationship with anyone.

The steps in front of Keith blurred as more tears filled his eyes and his lungs were burning as he breathing quickened with the running and the sheer panic. As he neared the bottom of the creaky staircase a stray shoelace got caught under his foot and he tumbled down the last few steps.

This was just great.

Pain shot through his arm as his elbow glanced painfully off the floor. Keith lay on the floor for a second to catch his breath before pushing himself up with his good arm and lent against the wall, trying to slow his breathing. He rubbed his elbow, feeling glad that nothing too bad had him injured. Imagine being trapped in a hospital with a broken leg unable to escape her.

While rubbing his elbow, he glanced down and noticed his knuckles were bruised from punching the wall, Keith hadn't noticed it until now and unfortunately an undesirable ache came into his hand. A deep, purple bruise. 

Crap I bet Shiro saw that. He's gonna question me later...

Keith stood against the wall for a minute, taking, deep slow breaths. "Time for me to take me leave," he whispered to himself, adjusting the position of his bag on his back. He exited the building and started in the direction of the Garrison, he was going to be really late now. 

Unhappy with how his morning had played out, Keith wondered how the Garrison were going to react to him showing up nearly an hour late. Their 'naughty list' consisted of pretty much only his name, hell, he was the reason there was a naughty list. Sighing, Keith thought about how disappointed Shiro would be if he got kicked out, he was the reason he was allowed in in the first place. Shiro was good at that, pulling strings to get his way. The Garrison had already made exceptions for him, once again, thanks to Shiro, but Keith couldn't pull himself together enough to behave. 

Leaves rustled as Keith walked past the entrance of the woods. He had never actually been into them, hiking wasn't his thing, but he felt something drawing him in, a force, something strong. He stood by the trees, orange leaves blowing around him in the autumn air. He had a feeling, a gut feeling that he needed to be in the forest. It was so intense, he couldn't just ignore it. 

Tall ominous trees surrounded him as Keith trekked into the forest, the crunching of dead leaves beneath his black boots was strangely comforting to him and a calm feeling washed over him. The calm felt artificial in a way, an underlying feeling of tension was there like something was about to happen. Whether it was good or bad was irrelevant to Keith he just knew that he had to be there. Slightly unsettled, he wandered into a clearing. A perfect circle of trees surrounded him and he stood in the centre and waited. He didn't have to wait long though.

An illuminating glow suddenly flashed right in front of Keith, so bright it almost hurt even with his eyes closed. A wave of something powerful forced Keith backwards until he was backed up against a tree. An unbearable pressure was pushing against him and he wanted to cry out in pain. It felt like his insides were twisting and his brain was melting into mush. He slid down against the tree until he was huddled in a fetal position at the bottom, hugging his knees. 

What was going on? 

*** 

Lance's heart was pounding as he awoke, he couldn't really see, everything was blurred like static and there was a loud ringing in his ears. He was in a bed in a room with blinding lights. Muffled voices were talking loudly but Lance couldn't understand them, it was like they were talking in a different language. He tried feeling the bed around him, wanting to get a sense of where he was because he couldn't figure it out. Where was he last? Allura... The sky...The pain.

The pain. As he remembered it, it jolted through is head like he was connected to high voltage electricity. He needed to escape this place. He felt hands hold him down as he started thrashing about in his sheets, his vision was still only shadows against the light but he could feel angels, other angels, holding him down. What were they doing to him? Lance whimpered in pain as he gave into the pressure of those holding him down. Somebody gently stroked his sweaty forehead, pushing his hair back. 

"It's okay Lance, you'll be okay," a tender voice spoke to him. He recognised that voice.

"Allura?" Lance gasped, the ringing was fading in his ears as he focused on her sweet voice. 

"I can't explain right now but you will be the hero, Lance."

"Where's Hunk? Where's my family..?" He mumbled weakly, he was taking short shallow breaths as the excruciating pain eased itself through his body.

"They're safe. I'll protect them myself if it comes down to it," Allura's voice still sounded faint to Lance, he strained his ears trying to hear. He had closed his eyes in an attempt to shut out the glow.

"What? P-protect them from what?" Lance stuttered.

"The Galra. They have made a reappearance. We need to protect you Lance. We're sending you away."

"Where?"

"To-" 

Allura was interrupted by a crash and a child screaming. "Don't send Lance away!" she sniffled. 

"Lucia..." Lance cried out, his younger sister was here. What was she doing, he didn't want her to get hurt because of him. He heard someone take her away and voices shouting, everything kept coming into focus and then dwindling to whispers and shadows.

"Send him. Now" Allura demanded the other angels. 

A chanting began, some old language Lance didn't recognise. Hairs tickled his face as a wind picked up and Lance felt a chill rush through him, weren't they indoors? He cried out for help but there were no voices anymore, only the whistling wind. He could no longer feel the bed around him. There was simply nothing.

Lance opened his eyes but he couldn't see, there was only darkness. He was simply in a whirlwind. A whirlwind of terror. He tried beating his powerful wings but alas, still no movement. It was then Lance started crying. Tears dribbled down in fear, he was confused and scared. 

Just as the pain began to ease off, Lance felt his whole body slam against something hard, he had landed somewhere. The darkness was fading quickly and his vision was coming back. He groaned in pain, it felt like his organs had been twisted and his brain was melting to mush. He blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the light. It wasn't necessarily blinding but it was hard after being in the dark for so long. 

Lance propped himself on his elbows and took in his surroundings. He was in a clearing, with trees surrounding him. They had amber leaves drifting off them and landing on the ground where they simply died. The sky was a stormy grey, Lance couldn't see any sapphire blue anywhere. 

Then it clicked.

He knew where he was.

Earth.

Of course! A realm where he was safe from the Galra. They wouldn't be able to reach him here.

Lance slowly stood up and spread out his wings to steady himself, as his whole body was throbbing after the ordeal, before tucking them away neatly against his back. He turned around so he could get a good sense of the forest but instead he came face to face with a raven haired boy staring at him wide-eyed. 

The two boys made awkward eye contact for a few moments before Lance blurted out, "you can see me?" He was utterly confused. Humans had never been able to see him before.

The boy's face went from shock to blank in a millisecond.

"Of course I can, I'm not blind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh yess it's finally getting somewhere :))) I'd much rather be doing this at 1 in the morning then anything else :)))


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "For a freaking angel, you're not very graceful."

"You can see me?" 

"Of course I can, I'm not blind."

Keith was as shocked. Did this boy have wings? What kind of crap was this? 

No. It wasn't real obviously, clearly his hangover was having a larger effect on him than he thought it would but a nagging voice at the back of his mind told him that hangovers can't quite do that to you. Drugs were out of the question for him after seeing what had happened to his mother after years of abusing them, he stayed far away from them. Years of abusing them and him.

"Who... What are you?" Keith eyed Lance suspiciously, he looked weak right now, really weak.

"The names Lance. Lance McClain," he spoke quickly, "I'm an angel. I'm from Altea... Not that you know where that is," Lance felt sick. How could this be happening to him, what had Allura done?

Keith couldn't believe this. This Lance guy was not an angel. Not in a million years. This was a prank, a hoax. Nothing real about this. Yet, Keith had a twinging feeling that it might be real, and that he landed himself right in the middle of the storm that was brewing.

"What's your name?" Lance asked curiously. He was conflicted on how to feel, so many emotions were flooding through him; he was frightened, confused and yet he was thrilled to be finally interacting with a human of all beings. His shifted his wings, feeling wary of this guy like he might need to take flight at any moment. Even though physically he knew he couldn't fly right now. That would also attract way too much attention.

"Keith." He responded, fixating on Lance's wings. However these pranksters had managed to do this it was impressive, he wondered how they managed that shock wave thing, they couldn't have. Even if they had some advanced technology nothing could create that. Keith sighed, knowing that the only explanation was that Lance was real angel. Somehow.

Pain. The pain was back. Lance doubled over as it swarmed over him. A horrible ache shot through him, it felt like something was eating him from the inside out and he couldn't take it anymore. 

"Lance? Lance, what's wrong?" Keith ran over to Lance and caught him as he took a few unsteady steps forward, he looked like he was about to pass out as his tanned skin paled. Keith became increasingly concerned when Lance went limp in his arms, his long silver wings drooping down, the tips of them scratching the floor. Lance squeezed his eyes shut in a poor attempt to block out the agony that wove itself into him.

***

Lance reopened his eyes once again in a small bedroom, it was extremely messy but it looked like there had been a slight attempt to tidy up. There were books stacked in a corner of the room and laundry in a pile next to them, there were streaks of red over the white walls and a small window opposite the bed he was lying on. 

Removing the red checker sheets from his slim body, Lance slowly got out of the bed. He was a bit wobbly at first on his feet but he steadied himself by leaning against the wall. When he left the room (he assumed to be Keith's) he looked around. The whole apartment seemed to be in a state of mess right now and it amused Lance slightly. How could humans even function in this kind of tip? 

Scanning the living room, Lance noticed Keith lying face down on the sofa breathing softly. Lance also saw his brown jacket and pale blue shirt folded neatly on the coffee table next to the couch. He realised that he was wearing a black shirt and grey jogging bottoms, they were soft, clean and warm and something else that Lance appreciated was the slits that had been cut into the shirt so his wings fitted more comfortably against his back. 

Lance's stomach suddenly made a loud gurgling noise. He shot a quick glance at Keith, who remained asleep, and became aware of the fact that he had lost all sense of time. He'd either been unconscious, in unbearable agony and being thrown into another realm completely. Keith probably wouldn't mind if he had some food right? 

After finding the kitchen, which didn't take long in the tiny flat, Lance rummaged through the cupboards, finding some salted tortilla crisps. Good enough, he thought to himself as he opened them and practically tipped them down his throat.

"And what do you think you're doing?" 

A sharp voice made Lance jump round, his face stuffed with crisps. 

"I was hungry," Lance said, his voice muffled by the food as he chewed and then gulped it down. 

"For a freaking angel you're not very graceful, eat with your mouth closed. Were you raised in a barn?" Keith snatched the packet away from Lance and in doing so split the packet, sending crumbs everywhere. 

"Dude? What was that for!" Lance exclaimed, starting to feel a slight tension with this mysterious Keith guy. 

"Don't take my food at your pleasure, it's rude." Keith stared at the mess on the floor. The rest of his home was already untidy, where was he gonna find the motivation to clean this? "Anyway, I have some questions to ask you. You owe it to me after I brought you back here." 

"What's up with you, why so sullen," Lance grumbled as he followed Keith back into the living room. 

"I'm not," he snapped. "Now, explain. What are you doing here and how did you get here?" 

"I...I think it was to protect me... I don't know how they got me here though," Lance answered, trying to remember what Allura had said. His memory was hazy at best and there were plenty of areas that were blacked out entirely.

"Who?"

"The other angels. Chief Angel, Allura, said that an evil race called the Galra had made a return to try and kill us all and take over our realm. Honestly, I have no idea how I got here either. At least, I don't know how they pushed me through to the point where you humans can see me. We've always been able to walk among you, even if that wasn't allowed, I always did it anyway."

"Right... So you're lost, basically." 

"I guess. I don't know how to get back and I need to. My people are in danger..." Lance bit his lip and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "God damnit Allura, why save me?" he muttered under his breath. 

Keith just looked at him, Lance thought he could detect a trace of sympathy behind his dark, cold eyes but he couldn't be sure. 

"You can stay here until you figure out a way home. But we have to keep you hidden and no going through my stuff."

"Thank you so much! I can tell you so much about angel folk lore and-" 

"Please, for the love of God, don't." Keith stood up "it's three in the morning Lance, I'm going to bed. You can have the couch." As he left the living room he thought about the weird dream he had and he wondered if he should mention it to Lance. Keith didn't want to worry him but at the same time he thought it might be important. He decided he'd think about it later but for now sleep was his priority.

As Lance lay down on the sofa, he thought about that strange dream he had when he was blacked out. He kept that from Keith because he was tired and his body was still drained from all his pain, he would explain everything in much more detail tomorrow. He closed is eyes and fell asleep quickly, dreaming of nothing but his family and Hunk this time around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh keef. sorry this chap isn't as good as i had hoped im feeling kinda ill rn ahaha


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well, at least now I can see what he meant about the temper issues."

"Wakey wakey, Lancelot." 

Lance awoke to being vigorously shaken by Keith. He jumped with surprise and and fell off the sofa, crashing onto the floor. 

"Hey! That hurt," Lance grumbled as he pulled himself back onto the dark red sofa. 

"Lance, I need to go out today. Promise me you will not leave my home, it could be dangerous." Keith told him sternly. "And have a shower, you're filthy."

Keith's phone suddenly began to vibrate on the coffee table and he grabbed it, incoming call, Shiro. He tapped the answer button, feeling very aware on Lance's eyes staring him down. Why would Shiro be calling him right now, he should be at work. Something was wrong.

"Hey-" He started before he was interrupted.

"Keith," Shiro sounded very disappointed, "I'm coming over. We need to have a chat."

"Why's that?" Keith felt a slight tension grow between them. He always thought of Shiro as a big brother and was worried he'd done something to upset him, which wasn't unusual but Shiro sounded really annoyed.

"I'll be round in five." Shiro finished before hanging up. 

Keith anxiously turned around to face Lance who was gently preening his delicate wings, no look of immediate concern was on his face but Keith sensed a repressed feeling of worry and confusion from the fallen angel. 

"We need to hide you. My friend is coming over and he can't know you're here." Keith looked around his tiny apartment. "Now where can I put you..."

"Are you sure this guy is a friend if you can't even tell him about me?" Lance whined, not wanting to be trapped all day with nothing to do.

"Look, no one can know. What's so hard to understand?" Keith snapped, making Lance flinch slightly. "Get in there," Keith pointed at the cupboard, "it's the only place Shiro isn't likely to look." 

"And if he does?" 

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

There was a loud tapping on the door and Keith quickly shoved Lance into the tall wooden cupboard in the corner of the room and Lance sat there in the dark pouting. Keith answered the door sheepishly, he felt guilty that he had to hide Lance from Shiro and obviously he had done something else to annoy him. He just prayed it wasn't going to be about his mother.

Shiro barely gave Keith a chance to fully open his door as he stormed into Keith's apartment. "Keith, how could you get kicked out the Garrison? You know how much I had to persuade my superiors just to give you a chance. I can't believe you." Shiro frowned, "I'm in trouble now for letting a silly little boy with temper issues distract the rest of his classmates." 

"I got kicked out?" Keith hadn't checked his emails in a while and he felt his stomach drop. Crap. No wonder Shiro was mad at me. 

"This is exactly what I mean Keith." Shiro hid his face in his hands, "you're disorganised and rude, you have to grow up. You're eighteen now and you need to pull yourself together, please."

Keith took a couple steps back, "I-I'm sorry Shiro... I didn't mean to disappoint you." He fiddled nervously with the ends of his jacket, his palms were clammy and he was ashamed of himself. Shiro was his family, he didn't have anyone else. He couldn't lose Shiro, not after everything that had happened.

"Don't apologise to me. Apologise to the Garrison for skipping lessons yesterday and being rude to them." Shiro folded his arms expectantly and glared at Keith.

Keith stared at his shoes and opened his mouth like a goldfish, trying to think of something to say. "I...I don't..."

"Give him a break, man!" 

Keith and Shiro both turned to see Lance throwing open the cupboard doors and leap out gracefully. 

"Lance, what are you doing?" Keith's eyes widened when he saw Shiro's frustration dig even deeper. Shiro was going to think he skipped to hang out with Lance. Keith felt frustrated with everyone, he specifically told Lance to stay out of sight. This boy was infuriating. 

"Keith only missed lessons yesterday because of me! I was injured and he saved me." Lance exclaimed. 

"Is this true? Why would you hide this from me?" Shiro asked, his disappointment fading but Keith knew that he was still concerned. 

"This is Lance... I found him..." Keith gulped, "he's an angel." He was super annoyed at Lance for blowing his cover. Knowing that Shiro would see through him if he lied, he didn't even bother trying. 

"An angel?"

Lance didn't hesitate to gently unfold his wings and Shiro looked at them with curiosity.

There was a moment of silence as the three boys all looked at each other. Keith's fists were clenched in anger and he glanced at Shiro who was tapping his chin intently. He didn't seem mad, or even that surprised.

"I think I know where you're from," Shiro said thoughtfully. Keith shot another curious glimpse at Shiro but he carried on, "you see, at the Garrison we're working on some top secret project about the entire prospect of reality. It's hard to explain but we have managed to design technology that can detect other quantum fields on different realms completely. We've detected two so far, I'm guessing you're from one of them." Shiro explained nodding at Lance.

"Wait... why have other students at the Garrison not been told about this?" Keith asked earnestly. "And how do you Lance is from one of them?"

"It's complicated. If we told the trainees some might freak out and let the rest of the world know, we don't want to the world to go into panic. Second of all, we detected some strange activity from one of the realms. Our sensors were going crazy and then we felt the shock wave and pinpointed it back in the forests behind this apartment building." Shiro was staring at Lance who was feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

"We have to go back there. We have to see if there's a way home for me!" Lance begged. "Please, I need to save my family, my people." 

"From what?" Shiro asked, "creatures from other realms?"

"Exactly. Look, I've always been able to sense, these kinds of things. I guess it's part of being an angel or something... but angels can travel between realms without truly leaving there birth realm. For me to be here the other angels must have broken a force between our worlds..." Lance started. His mind was buzzing, that would mean he was able to get back home, surely the force couldn't just mend itself.

"I'm Shiro, by the way," he stuck out his hand and Lance shook it. 

"I'm Lance." He liked this man. He seemed serious and almost father figure like, he could tell Keith really respected him so he thought it was for the best if he did as well. 

"I need to go back to the Garrison, I'm going to have to steal this tech I need. You two stay put for now, we can't have anyone seeing Lance. They might want to take him and experiment or something. Be careful." 

***

Keith and Lance had been sitting together for a few hours now. Keith didn't look happy, he was sulking for some reason. Lance looked at him, he was staring at his phone intensely with those beautiful purple eyes. Although, as much as he liked them, they still reminded him of Galra. 

"Keith, why are you mad at me?" Lance finally asked, the tension grew too much for him. He hoped that Shiro was going to come back soon.

"Because..." Keith started, "you're one of those arrogant boys who thinks they can do whatever they want. I told you to stay hidden and you completely ignored me." 

"Why do you care? It all worked out in the end." Lance grumbled. 

"That's not the point, Lance. What if it hadn't? If you want me to carry on letting you stay here you have to listen to me. I know my species and how evil they can be." Keith retorted, giving Lance a look of death.

"Don't talk to me about evil, at least you don't have a race of monsters setting out to kill your family," Lance stood up and bitterly kicked the coffee table. All the miscellaneous items that sat there objects took a small jump. 

"At least you have a family!" Keith yelled jumped up as well, and turned so he was face to face with Lance. Both of their faces were twisted into expressions of fury. Lance could see into his eyes which were riddled with deep emotional pain. He could tell Keith had been living a hard life. 

"I only did what I did to save you from getting into trouble with Shiro."

"I don't need your saving," Keith spat. 

"Well, at least now I can see what he meant about the temper issues now." 

Keith had had enough. 

"Don't act like you know me," he stuck out his hands and pushed Lance's chest. He stumbled back and tripped on a stray bottle lying on the ground and fell.

Bang.

Lance smacked his head against the corner of the table and was plunged into a sea of purple fire but all Keith saw was his limp body lying on the carpet. 

"Crap."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck i messed up some small details about eye colour i think so sorry if it changed randomly it was bothering me ahhhh. hope u enjoy :)))


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And what do you think you're doing, Keith?"

Lance blinked as he slowly woke up. He was back in the woods, in the clearing surrounded by trees. Except everything felt different. The sky was no longer a light blue but a dark purple; he could still see the sun hanging there, it was pointless as it gave off no light. It almost looked like it was drawn onto the sky with a yellow marker. The trees, once filled with orange leaves were all dying, the leaves rotting on the ground. Only one creature could do this.

The Galra.

Those evil monsters. They weren't just taking over his dimension, but every realm. Keith's realm. Where was Keith? He took a few quick glances around before taking a running leap into the air. He could get a good view up in the sky even if it made him vulnerable for attack. He felt Keith was going to to play a significant role in this war.

Eyeing the ground below him, he watched for any sign of life or any movement at all but his eagle eyes couldn't spot anything. Why was there nothing here? It was almost as if nothing had ever been here to begin with. 

Then it dawned on him.

This wasn't real. It was a dream, like the one he had in Altea. The dream of the Galra invading his realm. That's why Allura had sent him away, to protect him. 

Every child tale came flooding back to him. The prophecy that the voices had been telling him he was a part of his previous vision had been disguised as nursery rhymes and tales.

He was a part of that prophecy.

The Galra were going to invade planet earth.

He had to find Keith.

Folding his wings, lance started to drop out of the sky. He was going to wake himself up the only way he knew how, by dying. He gathered speed and he squeezed his blue eyes shut as he prepared for impact. 

***

"Keith!" Lance yelled as he woke up, he sat up instantly, feeling dizzy as all the blood rushed from his head.

Keith was sitting on a chair next to the sofa, "look Lance, I'm sorry about the fight I didn't mean to-"

Not giving him a chance to finish, Lance stood up and started moving towards to door. "We need to go now. Don't worry about some old fight - it's forgotten," Lance smiled briefly and Keith returned it. It was just a small twitch of his lips but Lance noticed. It gave him a feeling of warmth in his stomach.

"So, why the rush?" Keith asked as he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and followed Lance out the front door.

"It's just... I've had two weird dreams and I think I know what they are now."

Keith froze as they made it to the stairway, "what kind of dreams?" He asked. 

"There was lots of fire. Purple fire, Galra fire." Lance's fist tightened as he spoke through gritted teeth. "In the first one they were invading Altea, in the one I had just now they were invading..." he gulped, "they were invading earth." 

"It's just a dream though."

"No. They were visions." Lance grabbed Keith's wrist and started running down flights of stairs with him. 

"How could you possibly know?" Keith's stomach did a little flip at the touch, but he brushed it off.

"You see, when I was a young angel I was told all these stories. Children's tales, y'know? And I guess in one of them there was something about... Something about... uh," he racked his brains desperately trying to remember. "Five valiant warriors, all of mismatched backgrounds, are plunged into the dark struggle. Voltron will be formed as they keep the evil in the shadows. Blue will play with magic, red will have the sword, black will handle the spear, yellow the defender and green will strike from afar." Lance said each word slowly as the memory of his mother reading him the story of Voltron came back to him.

Keith shot him a look. "Bit dark for a kid's story isn't it? And what's Voltron?"

"I guess that's just what we were read. I think the elders knew the Galra would come back. Also I don't think Voltron is anything... I think it's just our team. I mean... The team."

"Our team? Do you think I'm apart of this?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, I think you are."

"Lance I need to tell you," Keith stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Lance's hand slipped down his wrist until his fingers were softly hooked on his. "I had a dream. The night before you ended up here." The two boys looked into each other's eyes. Sapphire and amethyst eyes. "I had a dream about the purple fire and a bright light with a hint of blue. When you arrived, there was the same light except it hurt. It almost felt like someone was squeezing my organs and my brain was melting." Keith dodged any further eye contact with Lance, feeling butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

"I had the same kind of feeling." Lance dropped his hand out of Keith's and furrowed his eyebrows. "I'll have to get back to you on what that could mean, I'm not so sure." 

Swiftly leaving the apartment building, the two boys fell into a steady step beside to each other. They walked in silence but occasionally their hands would brush against each other. Lance's mind was spinning. He had an idea on what had happened but he couldn't tell Keith, not yet anyway. However, it explained their strange connection. Even if they clashed a bit. 

Leaves crackled in the forest as the two boys strode down the path together, the autumn breeze brushing strands of Keith's mullet into his face. Lance was watching him out of the corner of his eye. The wind had turned the tip of his nose and his cheeks a rosy pink and Lance couldn't get it out of his mind as to how cute he looked. Was cute the right word? Why Keith though? Obviously he'd had crushes before but nothing had ever felt this intense. Keith was moody and irritable, plus it was against the rules for a human and an angel to be together. He had known Keith one day and they'd already had about two fights so it's not like it would work anyway. Yet, the strange feeling in Lance's gut stuck with him.

Keith suddenly stuck an arm out in front of Lance and they both stopped in their tracks. "Do you hear that?" Keith whispered and Lance strained his ears only to hear a high pitched beeping noise. 

"And what do you think you're doing, Keith." 

Out of the bushes jumped out a kid, no older than fifteen. 

"Pidge? What are you doing here?" Keith was surprised at the very least. Pidge of all people? She had an shifty look in her eyes as she watched both boys suspiciously. 

"I asked first." She smirked. "And who's this guy? You're boyfriend?" She giggled.

"No." Keith snapped at her. "We're waiting for Shiro, this is Lance. What's that machine?" 

"It's picked up signals. For some reason this area has been going crazy, I have no idea why." She pushed her round glasses up her nose and scratched her head while analysing the tech. 

Keith and Lance gave each other concerned looks but said nothing. Can we tell her? Lance mouthed at Keith and he shrugged. Lance felt he could trust this mystery girl, she gave him rule breaking mischief vibes. Lance liked those types of people.

"Oh tell me what?" Pidge's eyes lit up. "I can lipread you know. I already have my theories..." She looked at her scanner again, "it looks like it's telling me that there is another world next to ours. The readings are doubled, it doesn't make any sense..." She frowned. 

"It does make sense. I'm from that other world, and I believe I left a hole behind me that anyone from that other world can also get through."

Pidge laughed at him, "yeah, right. And I'm an angel from heaven." 

"The irony in those words." Keith muttered as Lance demonstrated with his wings as he'd done before with Shiro. Keith watched Lance as he filled her in on everything she had missed. He stared at Lance's smooth tanned skin and dark brown hair... He was handsome.

"A parallel universe... I want to go!" Pidge grinned and look up at the sky. 

"We need to get through and close it before something comes to us." Lance grimaced, following Pidge's gaze. 

Keith reached out to Lance and patted his shoulder gently in a comforting manner. "We'll get through this. Plus, now we got Pidge on our team." Keith gave Lance a soft smile as the three watched the blue sky together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is kinda bad I'm really tired while finishing it. I also wasn't sure how to add in Pidge without repeating myself so sorryyyy. Also I'd love some feedback so please feel free to leave a comment! :))


	7. Chapter 7

The two boys and Pidge had been sitting around in the forest watching it shed it's amber leaves while waiting for Shiro. Lance had filled in Pidge in what was going on and Keith sat there quietly, thinking about how his world and been flipped upside down in a couple of days. Now was not the time for an existential crisis about the universe either, all these 'realms' were confusing him.

Lance had also been thinking, tuning out Pidge's excited babbling. He knew that he and Keith had a connection, there was something between them. Lance felt strongly about Keith and he believed he had figured out why. The feeling Keith had described was the same one he felt as he had been forced through the barrier between realms and crash landed in this park like an alien spaceship. He caught Keith's gaze and they made brief eye contact for a second before they were interrupted by Shiro creeping through the bushes.

"We need to keep quiet about this, it's some high level tech that I will be in tonnes of trouble for if it's found to be missing-" He cut himself off when he noticed Pidge standing there. He glanced at Keith and Lance who nodded that she was safe to be there.

"Shiro, when you were gone I... passed out," Lance left out the bit where he and Keith had fought, "and had a vision that the Galra, the beings that are trying to kill my people, came here. I think we need to seal this gap between realms before they get here," Lance bit his lip, what would sealing this gap mean for him? would he be able to get back home? Or was he going to have to sacrifice his home and remain here. He couldn't leave his family and Hunk, they needed him if they were under attack right now.

"Would you even know how to close this gap that was left?" Keith interrupted his train of thought.

"I think I would!" Pidge interjected, excited to be apart of things. "There's lots of mythology about angels and creatures from other worlds, it's presented in religions all over the world. I remember reading about an ancient story where I believe something similar happened. Obviously, when I first read it I presumed it all to be false but now I suppose there might have been some truth to it."

"What story?"Lance asked Pidge, his blue eyes full of curiosity.

"Well... It was about a time when angels and humans walked freely among each other, between worlds. Things weren't exactly peaceful though, angels had a sense of superiority to humans and there was a lot of disagreement and violence. When the world was attacked by demons and purple like fire spread across the land like a plague, wiping out everything in its path, humans and angels were forced to band together in order to save both races. The war went on for a hundred years. Many lives were lost, both angels and humans were starting to give up hope but suddenly, among the fighting were five heroes. They were a team. Blue, red, yellow, green and black; they called themselves Voltron. They were expert fighters, magic users and always had a plan. They came up with a spell for the angels to use in order to expel the demons, only the angels had the abilities to use magic, however in using the spell the angels not only banished the demons but also created a seal that prohibited them from visiting the human world anymore. They could still watch the humans, but it was a one-way mirror." Pidge recited.

Lance's jaw dropped, he had been told the exact same story ever since he had been young. This wasn't their first encounter with the Galra.

"The Galra must have found a way through the barriers then, just as Lance somehow made his way here." Keith's clenched his fists, "but why? Why break another barrier and involve humans as well? We were safe." He glared at Lance as if the whole situation was his fault entirely.

"Because Voltron's weapons got scattered between the realms when the spell was cast," Pidge jumped in quickly, noticing the scowl that Keith was directing towards Lance, who had responded by turning his nose up at Keith and folding his arms defensively. "We need to find them before we close the barriers again."

"And before the Galra invade Earth..." Shiro glanced at the sky. "Any idea where these weapons could be?"

"We have yellow's shield. It's displayed in the palace back home." Lance said.

"And green doesn't need a weapon, green was the one coming up with plans and tactics, she wasn't a fighter." Pidge pointed out.

"So from what Lance said earlier that leaves a sword, spear and..." Keith trailed off trying to remember what the third item was.

"A staff. For blue, who used it to enhance his magic use." Lance finished for him. He pondered on the idea that this was his team now, this is what the dreams and Allura had been trying to tell him all along. He was apart of this prophecy. So were these humans. He was placing bets that someone back home was using the shield in order to hold off the Galra for as long as possible while he was out here, the first angel to interact with humans in centuries, trying to find the weapons to fight the Galra and hopefully keep them out forever. Then another thought hit him, if the barriers were going to be sealed permanently then that meant he would never see these people again after the mission. He bit his lip nervously and wrung his hands together as he glanced a Keith out of the corner of his eye, he speculated whether Keith was thinking the same thing but it was impossible to tell, his face was blank. His mouth was a hard line and he looked just about ready to face anything.

"In order to find these items I just need to follow the same signal that was emitted when Lance originally fell to Earth." Pidge said after a minute of silence while everyone had been lost in their own thoughts, "I logged it in this gadget, it should be simple enough. Especially with Shiro's equipment." Pidge snatched up Shiro's tech and started pressing buttons. "Can we go to a cafe or something? It would be easier to sit down, plus I'm starving." Pidge requested.

Everyone agreed although Lance was reluctant to leave the woods in case something happened but eventually Shiro persuaded him. Still weak from only arriving the day before, Lance could do with some food, drink and to rest a bit.

"Wait, hang on..." Keith pulled off his jacket and handed it to Lance, "to cover up, y'know just in case..." He trailed off awkwardly, not knowing how to finish the sentence. He felt an unfamiliar pang in his stomach. Lance took the jacket and slipped it on, it was warm and softer than he had expected. The whole ordeal was extremely awkward with Pidge and Shiro watching, both Lance and Keith felt their cheek's tinging a slight pink under their stares.

"Thanks." Lance mumbled, "lets get going."

With that, Pidge lead the way to the nearest cafe so they could all have a sit down together. The sun hung in the sky with only a few clouds surrounding it like guardians. There were a few people bustling around the street on their afternoon coffee breaks from work under their tall office buildings that loomed above them. The grey towers made Lance feel unsettled, he would hate to live here. There was no colour in this place, his wings twitched anxiously under Keith's red jacket as he realised how much he missed his home.

Showing them to the booth in the corner by the window, Pidge sat down, followed by the others. There was an awkward silence as Shiro had disappeared to get cakes and drinks for everyone, the only noise was a furious tapping from Pidge who was only focused on her current task. Lance rested his head against the window suddenly feeling exhausted. His eyes slipped shut as he calmed his breathing to relax himself. He had some friends now, he'll be okay and he'll get home.

"Who wants a brownie?" Shiro reappeared with various drinks and a tray stacked with cakes and cookies.

Keith reached for his wallet but Shiro smiled at him, "don't worry, it's on me." Keith simply nodded his thanks and reached for his coffee and started taking sips. Pidge on the other hand swiped up her black coffee and practically chugged it, not once tearing her eyes away from her machine. Sliding Lance's drink across the table, Keith poked him. Lifting his head wearily, Lance yawned and he picked up his hot chocolate and started drinking.

"Not quite as good as angel food," he commented and he ate and drank quickly.

"Well it's all we've got. So take it or leave it," Keith grumbled.

"No need to get moody."

Keith simply glared at Lance.

"You guys are acting like toddlers," Shiro laughed which caused Keith to scowl even more.

"Lance sure doesn't act like an angel. I see why Pidge said that we didn't get along with them in that dumb story."

"Hey, I act angelic enough!" Lance insisted, his mouth stuffed.

That triggered everyone at the table to laugh, even Keith let out a small chuckle.

"So I've got good and bad news. Good news: I've found the items. Bad news: we're going to have to take a road trip. Each item appears to be a day's drive away, besides one item which is located in this city somewhere." Pidge shoved her glasses up her nose.

"Well the obvious place to look is back in the woods," Shiro confirmed. "We'll finish up here and then head home. I think we've done enough for today, Lance has had a long day and he looks half asleep."

Of course, he had finished eating and had rested his head back on the window.

"I'm assuming he'll head home with Keith?"

"Fine." He muttered beneath his breath.

"Tomorrow, meet back at the circle at ten o'clock sharp." Shiro instructed and they all nodded obediently.

It didn't take long for the boys to make it back to Keith's apartment where they sat together in another uncomfortable silence. Keith looked focused on nothing, sitting straight up whereas Lance was slouched on the sofa. Without anything to keep him busy he felt lonely and homesick.

"Why are human cities so grey?" Lance asked suddenly, a desolate edge to his voice.

Keith furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Back home we had sky scrapers but they seemed so... so much brighter. Made out of glass they would shimmer in the sunlight but here everything looks miserable. We had so much more colour."

"Come with me," Keith stood up and Lance followed suit.

Keith flung open a door at the side of his living room that lead to a balcony, which was tiny. Lance squeezed himself out after Keith and stood next to him. Neither of them said anything but they both stared into the distance where the sun was sinking into the ground leaving a bright orange glow. The surrounding sky looked like it had been painted a striking red which faded to pink and then a darker blue. Lance's mouth twitched into a content smile, as beautiful as the sunset was he found himself looking at Keith.

He looked at ease here, a breeze brushed his black hair around his face in a gentle manner. His muscles were relaxed and he didn't look so tense as he usually did. Keith turned to him with inquisitive eyes and it occurred to Lance how close they were.

"Here is your jacket back..." Lance fumbled in tugging it off himself, he suddenly felt a need to fill the silence.

"Keep it."

"Thanks."

"Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll get you home." Keith turned out to face the sunset again.

Lance clutched Keith's jacket in his hand's as he turned to face the horizon too.

"Thank you, Keith."


	8. Chapter 8

"Three days!" Lance exclaimed as he threw himself onto the sofa. "Three days we've been looking, we're never going to find it," he whined into a cushion.

Keith was crouching by the door tying his shoe laces. "Don't worry, we'll find it." Keith reassured him from across the room, "we can't give up."

"I've been here nearly a week and we're not any closer than when I first arrived."

Standing up and tugging on his black fingerless gloves, Keith shrugged, "well we've got another day of searching ahead of us so you better start getting ready. We're not going to get anywhere if you don't even bother looking."

During the three days Keith had also bought Lance some of his own clothes and a couple of other items in anticipation of a long stay for him. Slowly becoming slightly more comfortable around each other, the tension between them was decreasing, however they continued to argue about little things. Both of their stubborn attitudes meant they refused to admit they were even friends yet; Shiro and Pidge poked fun at this which the boys tolerated reluctantly, they didn't want to egg on Pidge's behaviour.

Lance pulled on the red jacket and followed Keith out of the building and down to the clearing, which was their confirmed meeting spot. The autumn weather had become significantly chillier and Shiro had wrapped himself up in a thick black coat while Pidge wore a green scarf and a pair of gloves. Keith looked unbothered by the temperature and wore a red jumper that definitely wasn't keeping the cold out, even the tips of his fingers blued slightly which wasn't surprising due to his fingerless gloves.

"You ready to get searching team?" Shiro gave a welcoming smile to Keith and Lance as they crunched over the dead leaves. Everyone looked worn out and like they were losing motivation, apart from Shiro.

"Day four... we're never gonna get it. All the time the Galra are probably getting closer to invading." Lance grumbled, a miserable frown cast upon his face.

"Don't lose hope yet."

They all split up, it was a familiar routine by now. They would each go off in various directions and hunt through bushes and under rocks. If there was no one around, Lance would stretch out his wings and boost himself into a tree, just in case there was a hole the weapon would be hiding in.

Sighing heavily, Lance hauled himself to the top of a swaying tree and looked down to watch Keith, Pidge and Shiro, who resembled ants from this height, searching for the weapon. He felt bad he had dragged them into this mess, it was his people's problem, not theirs. He felt shame and guilt rise in him, he was letting everyone down. He was supposed to save his world. He couldn't do it.

A sudden rush of wind flew past Lance and he glanced round just in time to see a blinding flash that dazzled him. It almost looked like a gap in the sky was being forced open and a giant flying object was forcing it's way through. It was sleek in design, a dark black and aerodynamic. It was unsettling and unnatural to watch, and the light was harsh to watch but he couldn't tear his eyes away.

The adrenaline flooded through him when he finally realised what he was seeing, this was far too advanced for humans. The doorway between realms and been fully opened, artificially shredded apart. Lance's mouth felt dry. The ship was hovering over the forest, slowly but surely lowering itself down.

They were here.

Without any hesitation, Lance dived down from his tree, angling his sleek wings to move as quickly as possible, he didn't care if anyone saw him anymore. He desperately needed to warn the others.

"Keith! Shiro!" Lance yelled as he dodged between tree branches that jutted out at him, grasping at him like gnarly hands. It felt like everything was against him, time, luck; even the trees were trying to stop him. It wasn't fair. If anything happened to the others, especially Keith, Lance could only blame himself, he already felt like he had abandoned his fellow angels. He was a useless hero.

"Lance!"

Lance heard Keith shriek his name and he steered himself to the right, in the direction of the noise. He felt all his senses heighten as he kept his ears open for Shiro and Pidge. He closed his wings and stumbled into a run. His feet pounded against the ground as his heart drummed against his chest. All of a sudden, he felt himself being flung forward as his foot caught itself in a tree root.

"The damn things are against me," he muttered, staggering to his feet and stretching out his long wings for balance. He looked up and realised he was back at the clearing.

Keith was standing directly in the centre. Face to face with him was a purple demon. Taking hesitant steps backwards, Keith was taking desperate looks around him, hoping to spy something he could use as a weapon. Or maybe Lance would come to his rescue.

Maybe, he thought to himself. The Galra was huge, broad shoulders and purple skin with pointed ears. It didn't resemble anything human. It wore shining armour that was black with a purple logo on his chest. It's empty eyes stared right into Keith has it lifted its great arm, ready to plunge the hatchet it held into Keith's head.

Holding his hands defensively in front of his face, Keith prepared for an immense pain. His whole body tensed and it felt like time was stretched out. But the pain never came. It was stopped by an angel who streaked across the forest glade and barrelled himself into the side of the monster. 

"Don't you dare hurt him," Lance hissed, blue eyes blazing as he jumped off the Galra who lay on the ground grunting uncomfortably. He felt all his rage at once, any feelings of guilt or shame was replaced and he almost felt blind to everything. He knew he had to do one thing and that was protect Keith. He felt a fierce protection over him, he felt it in the pit of his stomach. He snatched the hatchet the monster was holding but before he could do anything with it Keith had grabbed his arm and was dragging him away.

"We need to go. We need to warn Pidge and Shiro." Keith's eyes were focused on only the area ahead of him. He concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other, resisting Lance's pulls in the opposite direction.

"Why didn't you let me finish him off?" Lance growled, still clutching the weapon, his knuckles were white with tension. He'd never felt this sort of anger before. He'd never felt the urge to protect so strongly before.

"There were more of them coming,"

I didn't want to watch you become a killer.

"You couldn't fight them all off at once,"

I can't watch you bloody your pure white wings.

There's a feeling between us I can't explain. But I know you can.

You're not one of them - not a murderer.

"Are you not going to thank me for saving your life?" Keith snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Lance's patronising voice.

"No," Keith responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You don't have to be like this, you know?" Lance retorted, suddenly feeling disrespected and slightly hurt by Keith.

"As long as you're around I think I do."

"After this is all over I hope I never have to see you again."

"You think I want to be around you? I was doing just fine without you. I was happy with just Shiro. You came along and ruined everything." Keith snapped defensively, he couldn't help feeling troubled by what Lance had said, the words stung. He knew he could only rely on Shiro but over the past week he had felt himself trusting this mysterious fallen angel. Now he was feeling the stinging pain of rejection. Lance hated him, he hated himself, he just wanted this whole ugly mess to be over and resume his normal-ish life.

After yanking his arm out of Keith's grip a steely silence fell over the two boys. They didn't dare call out Shiro or Pidge's name, fearing that they would attract the attention of the Galra. Even if the trees were mostly stripped of leaves it still left a relatively good cover. In the sky there was one main Galra battleship but there were other, smaller piloted attack ships that were docked at the sides, ready at any minute to be used.. Keith assumed that people were gathering in the city to watch. This would look extremely threatening to the locals. The Garrison were probably preparing as well. The Galra soldier that had faced Keith and Lance had dropped out of the main ship on long ropes, as the ship was hanging low in the sky. The soldiers that had dropped were probably scouting the forest for civilians, such as themselves.

Eventually their walk through the forest was interrupted. "Oi! Guys up here," a voice said in a hurried whisper.

Both boys immediately looked up to see Pidge dangling from a tree, "they've taken Shiro!" She said quickly, her eyes frantic. She swung down and landed gracefully in front of them. "The Galra are huge!"

There was a brief moment of silence and Keith and Lance processed what Pidge had said. Shiro was gone?

"We need to get him back." Keith grimaced.

"What are we gonna do? I'm the only one who could fly up there." Lance said.

Pidge looked thoughtful for a minute, "I'll think of something..." she murmured, mostly to herself. There was a silence. After a couple minutes Pidge snapped her fingers and her glasses flashed. Keith and Lance looked at her in anticipation.

"Alright, Lance. You can fly so what you need to do is carry Keith up to the ship. If you aim for the holes where the ropes are falling out, there's bound to be a way in that way. Before Shiro got taken, I snatched this tablet from the Galra," she whipped out a grey block from her pocket, "which means I have access to all their information and I can probably hack in and see where they are keeping Shiro. Keith, if you stay on a phone call with me I can give you directions and I assume their cells are either powered electrically, they use a lock and key or it's magic. If it's powered by electricity I can probably shut it down since everything should be powered by the same source - it's all on one spaceship - so let's hope for that one. If either of the other two, I won't be able to help you." Pidge finished excitedly. "I'll watch from afar. I wouldn't be much use up close anyway." She pushed her glasses up her nose as she started up the tablet.

"But how are we going to get Shiro back down? Pidge there are so many things that could go wrong-" Lance was cut off by Keith.

"He can climb down those ropes. We don't have time for this Lance, we need to go right now!" Keith demanded. Lance bit his lip anxiously and nodded, handing the weapon he had to Keith, he lifted him up into his arms. After a couple of beats from his wings he launched himself into the air, holding Keith close to his chest.

Wrapping his free arm around Lance's neck, Keith tried to slow his breathing, he wasn't exactly the biggest fan of heights and his heart was racing with anxiety. He rested his head against Lance's chest, listening to the quick pace his heart was beating at. He felt oddly safe up here with Lance despite all the danger surrounding them. They were moving slower than Keith thought they would be, he assumed it was his weight that was dragging Lance back. Glimpsing down, Keith realised how high up they were and squeezed his eyes shut.

"You alright?" Lance asked quietly.

"Yeah... Not the biggest fan of heights." Keith mumbled.

"It's okay. I got you."

Feeling Lance's grip tighten reassuringly, he pressed his head into Lance's chest once more. It felt weird trusting his life with someone, someone who was basically a stranger. He felt so vulnerable. Lance was seeing him when he was fragile, without his shield up. It was exposing.

Opening his eyes slightly, Keith saw Lance's sharp jawline and tan skin. His blue eyes were determined and stuck out compared to his short brown hair. Keith refused to admit to himself that he thought Lance was attractive. The only thing he wanted was for Lance to tell him that they were bonded in some way. He knew they were, he could feel it in his soul. There was something about them that meant they were supposed to be together. Even if him, a mere human could figure it out, surely Lance could as well.

"Keith, we're going to need to need to pull ourselves up, since the gaps in the ship are too small to fly through. I'll push you through then you can help me up."

Gulping, Keith nodded. Awkwardly, Lance managed to shove him up the hole and then Keith grabbed his lanky arm and hauled him up too. It was quite difficult seeing as Lance's wings weren't designed to hover but they just about managed it. Once they were in they took in their surroundings, the ropes the fell out the ship were securely attached to pully systems above them. There was a control panel just in front of a wide door that looked like it would have to be activated to open. They crouched behind the panel, just in case more Galra were sent out to the room.

"Ready to call Pidge?" Keith said while taking out his phone. Lance simply nodded his response and waited as Keith dialled. Lance briefly considered how close he has been to Keith, it felt both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time; reminding him of the balcony and how near he had been to the raven haired boy.

I will be there for Keith, even if it kills me.

Pidge's tinny voice was bubbling with excitement at the Galra tech, she gave simple directions to the boys as they crept through the ship. They had gone with the tactic of avoiding conflict, although they had the hatchet to use if necessary. Lance and Keith barely spoke, they were so afraid of being caught. This was an unusual situation for both of them. Keith had strength since he was trained at the Garrison, he knew how to handle himself in a fight. Also completing his training at his own 'fancy-schmancy angelic academy' as Keith called it, Lance was feeling relatively prepared in case of emergency. But God, was he nervous.

Afraid of what would happen to them if they caught, afraid of letting Keith down, afraid of not getting Shiro back.

Lance felt nothing but fear. He sneaked a look at Keith, who looked calm and prepared. How? How could he be so calm in this situation and not freak out. Was Lance freaking out?

Chill out, don't make a fool of yourself.

The ship had long corridors, they were made out of a sturdy metal that clanged every time the boy took too heavy of a step. There were nooks and crannies in the walls though which was useful to hide in every time a guard strode past them. Except they weren't always quick enough.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?"

The boys heard pounding footsteps behind them.

"Shit. Run!" Keith gripped Lance's arm as they pegged it down the corridor. A blaring alarm screeched down their ears, obviously the guard had alerted the entire ship.

"Pidge, we need to find Shiro now! Is there anyway you can turn this alarm off?" Lance shouted over the noise. There was a crimson light flashing above them as they ran.

"I can try," Pidge responded, it was slightly difficult since she didn't understand a word of the Galra tech.

Keith skidded to a halt when he saw more guards coming up in front of them.

"Crap."

Lance froze next to Keith, an uneasy feeling worming its way through his body. His heart was thumping, the only thing his mind was telling him to do was protect Keith. The guards were almost on top of them, Keith had positioned himself in a fighting stance, fists raised and a hard look on his face. Unable to think clearly, Lance panicked. His mind was consumed with so many thoughts he didn't know how to act; painfully, he took a blow to the side of his head. He let go of their singular weapon and it clattered to the floor. He stood there while watching Keith struggle alone, feeling strong arms grab him harshly. He felt dizzy and black spots were threatening to block his vision.

Keith struck a soldier on the shoulder and he toppled over, he was huge but had little balance and it was easy for him to take advantage of that. He got a couple more good kicks in before becoming swarmed by three guards around him. He wasn't strong enough to fight all of them off. This wasn't going to end well.

Lance, what is wrong with you?

Why can't you move?

Why aren't you protecting him?

It was too much. Too overwhelming.

Roughly being pulled in some direction by one of the soldiers everyone froze simultaneously when the power shut off. Keith took the opportunity to wriggle his way out of the guard's grip and drag Lance out of the Galra's hands, dodging past the guards they continued to sprint down the corridor. They ended up hurtling straight into a man, who fell backwards in surprise.

"Shiro?" Keith exclaimed with delight, he could just about make out his face in the darkness

"Should've known all this commotion was down to you two. The door to my cell opened when the power went out," Shiro smiled softly at them as he jumped up off the ground. "Who's ready to escape now?"

Keith nodded but Lance was stumbling, his head was throbbing and he was functioning on pure adrenaline and his body was threatening to pass out any minute.

"He took a hit to the head," Keith explained as him and Shiro watched Lance with concern, he was heavily leaning on Keith's shoulder.

"How the hell do we get him down..." Shiro wondered audibly.

"We'll think of something." Keith muttered.

The power was out for longer than expected and the guards seemed to have dispersed to try and fix the problem that was caused by Pidge. Keith's phone had been lost in the scuffle so they couldn't communicate with her anymore so all three men were hurrying down the corridor to make it back into the previous room.

Almost immediately, guards were on their tail.

"Hurry!" Keith yelled as he and Shiro were trying their best to help Lance. He appeared to be slightly more zoned in.

Eventually Shiro and Keith were basically carrying him, though it was far more efficient and they made it back to the room where they could escape. As they entered Shiro ran for the control panel and ended up mashing random buttons and the door slammed shut, cutting off the guards.

"Lance, can you fly?" Keith sat him down on the floor while Shiro kept an eye on the door.

"Mhm, maybe," he nodded wearily. Why did his head hurt so damn much? There was no way this was just caused by one blow.

"So that's a no." Keith sat beside Lance. "The hell are we gonna do now?"

In the brief moment that Shiro turned his back to respond to Keith, the door opened and with a shout the guards charged into the room.

Shiro swung round with surprise to see Keith was on his feet immediately and ready to fight. Except this time, the guards were prepared with guns and other weapons.

There was no way Keith would have been able to react quick enough, as soon as the trigger had been pulled a bullet rocketed toward him and embedded itself in his shoulder. The pain caught him off guard, it was like it had happened in slow motion. Pain shot through his body and instinctively he grabbed his shoulder, staggering backwards.

Lance felt himself immediately get grabbed by one of the monsters, everything was hazy. Was he about to have another vision or something? No. This was different. He watched Keith get hit and it was as if that moment brought him back to the real world, everything was clear.

"Keith!" He cried, lurching forward. He could see where Keith was heading

Dizzy with pain, Keith took another step backwards. Another step backwards onto nothing. Lance's shout was a blur to him as he realised he was falling. He had fallen through one of the holes in the floor.

"Lance!" He yelled. He felt his stomach in his throat as his whole body plummet towards the ground.

It was hopeless. There was nothing. He was going to die.

He didn't have quite enough time to contemplate death, he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling terror wash over his body.

"I'm coming." Lance felt a sudden surge of strength as he ripped himself free of the guard who had him in his grip. Shiro saw him making a rush for the rope and quickly retreated as well, leaping onto the rope and let himself down instantly.

Lance glanced down and saw Keith's limp body falling towards the earth. He pressed his wings against his back as hard as he could and plunged towards him.

There was a weird moment of stillness between everyone.

Pidge watched below, her eyes wide as she saw Keith falling.

Shiro focused on escaping himself, wholeheartedly trusting Lance to reach Keith on time.

The Galra staring from above, unable and unwilling to help.

And Keith and Lance.

They locked eyes with each other. Lance extended his arms, desperately trying to reach Keith, who was totally helpless.

Lance had never felt such emotions. He had never lost anyone to death before, he couldn't lose Keith. He knew why he felt like this towards Keith, he knew that their souls had become entangled since they had been together from the first moment Lance had broken the seal between realms. They were soul bonded, they couldn't undo that, Lance knew Keith had figured it out. Or at least had an idea.

It was in that moment there was another blinding flash of blue light and Lance felt a cold metal materialise in his hand which in turn sent a surge of power through his entire body, jolting him forward. His fingers curled around Keith's outstretched arm and he opened his beautiful wings, violently bringing them to a stop in the air. Looking down, Keith realised how close he had been to the ground and how close he had come to death. But Lance had saved him.

The pain from the bullet wound in Keith's arm was forgotten for a brief moment while Lance manoeuvred them to the ground. Both boys were silent, looking at what had appeared in Lance's hand. A look of disbelief was washed over their faces as they looked at it and then at each other.

"Lance... What is that?" Keith asked, gesturing to the long staff. It was a shimmery silver, at the end was a lion head carved into the metal, with a sapphire stone embedded in it.

"I think it's the staff we were looking for. I must have summoned it somehow," he replied, he glanced round hearing Pidge charging towards them.

"Lance how did you do that?" Pidge asked, looking at the sky. The ship had disappeared and the tear between realms appeared to have been sewn up once more. They also saw Shiro clambering down a tree and leap down beside them.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. He was just glad everyone was alright, the worst wound being Keith's shoulder.

The group staggered out of the forest together, Shiro ringing for an ambulance. It appeared that an audience had gathered, eyes widened with shock. Lance's existence had been outed now and cameras were flashing in their faces. What just happened must have been quite a show for the locals.

Though, they were tired and didn't care about any of this. It would be a problem for another day. All they needed was some food, a hospital bed for Keith, and a long sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soz for the rushed ending oops and the bad pacing of the chapter


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a few days now since battle with the Galra. Keith and Lance were relieved to have a small break from searching since they were both exhausted. The existence of Lance had now been brought to the attention of the Garrison and Shiro had disappeared to report everything that had happened, he was under some heat for not telling them straight away and the two boys sat in Keith's apartment anxiously awaiting his return.

What had happened was strictly confidential, everyone in the town was under harsh instructions not to repeat what happened and spread worldwide panic; an uneasy peace settled over everyone with a lot of whispers spread around from house to house.

"I think we need to distract ourselves for a bit," Lance said, not quite as cheerfully as he had hoped it would come out.

"No. We need to think of plans for various outcomes of the situation-"

"Wanna watch a film?" Lance asked, cutting him off quickly. He observed Keith anxiously biting his nails and wince in pain every he moved his bad arm. Being wrapped up in bandages was very uncomfortable, Keith felt weak and what made it even worse was that Lance and Shiro kept trying to take care of him.

Pursing his lips together, Keith nodded slightly in response to Lance's question. Maybe he just needed to relax a little. Grabbing the remote, Lance flicked through Netflix films.

"Horror?" Keith smirked at Lance who shrugged.

"Sure." Couldn't be that bad.

Clicking on Insidious, the two boys sat back together to watch.

In Lance's world, everything was peaceful and pure. Horror films didn't really exist. This lead to an interesting (and rather amusing) effect on the angel.

"Oh my God, what is that thing?" Lance screeched as he clung onto Keith in terror. His blue eyes widened at any sight of blood and during one of the jump scares he panicked so much he ended up protectively wrapping his wings around himself and Keith.

Not bothered by the scary film, Keith found himself watching Lance far more than he expected. It was almost cute how Lance was pulled them together beneath his wings. Chuckling slightly, Keith found his good arm around Lance's shoulders, giving him a reassuring squeeze every time Lance buried his face in Keith's neck.

"Wanna watch something that isn't gonna traumatise you," Keith poked fun at Lance teasingly.

"I'm not scared!" Lance retorted, suddenly pulling away from Keith.

"Tell that to my hand that you nearly broke." Keith snickered.

Lance snatched his hand away and his lingering touch made Keith want more.

Why did he want more?

Keith changed the film to Tangled and they soon both relaxed again. Lance was left with a content smile playing at his lips and Keith wasn't dealing with his crushing grip. Considering how lanky he was, he was surprisingly strong.

Both boys were itching to curl up together and watch this peacefully, however both were too stubborn to make the first move.

Or too scared.

They were interrupted by a knocking at the door and Keith cautiously stood up to answer it. Pidge's face was there, beaming as always. She ran inside and sat down on the living room floor, immediately un-packing a bunch of equipment from her green duffel bag.

"I've figured out how Lance got his staff!" She grinned.

Despite feeling slightly annoying that their time together had been disrupted, both boys were listening keenly.

"Were you guys watching Tangled together?" Pidge glanced at the TV then looked at both boys. "Aw that's cute, sorry to chip in on your date, you'll have to postpone." She giggled at them.

"Shut up," Keith went to kick her but she dodged deftly. Lance looked away, his face flushed a bright pink.

"Anyway, this weapon. I believe it was kept in what I'm calling the universe's pockets. You see, the way all this different worlds are pushed together there are twists and folds, perfect for keeping sacred weapons only accessible by magic. Or in Lance's case, his emotion's were strong enough to trigger a connection in the staff and it revealed itself." Pidge explained, showing the boys a load of readings that they didn't understand. "So protecting your boyfriend was clearly top priority." She smiled evilly at them.

Keith threw a book at her.

"Anyway, we need to start preparing for our road trip." Pidge said casually.

"Road trip?" Lance responded, slightly confused.

"Yeah. If you two knuckle-heads remember, the other weapons are at least a day's drive apart. We'll have to drive. It's the quickest way."

"What if the Garrison don't want Lance to leave?" Keith asked.

"Well, you've never been one to stick by the rules Keith. We'll go anyway. Doesn't matter to me." She said thoughtfully. "I'm sure the Garrison won't mind since it's for the greater good, y'know?"

Keith nodded, he was thinking about all the things that could go wrong. If the four of them run away against the Garrison's command they'll have the police on their tail as well as the Galra, who are without a doubt trying to get back onto Earth, if not wreaking havoc in Lance's realm. Although Lance would never admit it, he was worried sick about home. Often Keith would wake up in the night to hear Lance thrashing about on the sofa, crying out for Hunk and Allura. This increased Keith's concern for Lance's mental well-being, he didn't want to watch Lance deteriorate right before his eyes. It had been especially bad after the fight, they knew what they were up against and the nightmares kept coming for Lance.

"Where is Shiro, by the way?" Pidge asked, fiddling with her phone.

"Being interviewed by the Garrison, they are not happy about what happened. Shiro is taking the hit for us." Keith answered, he glanced at Lance whose brow was knitted together with anxiety.

The three sat around for another twenty minutes or so, when Shiro finally showed up at the apartment. They all stared at him, Shiro's expression said it all.

"What happened?" Lance asked eventually, wringing his hands together while gazing at the floor.

"The Garrison didn't quite see my side of things. They want to take in Lance and his staff for analysis and hold all of us for questioning. I'm surprised they didn't send a SWAT team to accompany me," Shiro's attempt at a joke resulted in a slight chuckle from Pidge and a weak smile from Lance. "We're supposed to report back immediately."

"Did you tell them that the Galra could be back at any time? And it's up to us to find the sword and the spear?" Keith demanded, his mouth a hard line and his eyes fierce.

"Yes, I did. It almost felt like they doubted me, which I would understand but after the Galra attack I feel like that's evidence that I'm not lying. Plus, we have plenty of witnesses." Shiro was still calm and level headed despite Keith's obvious anger.

"We have a whole city full of witnesses." Lance muttered, slightly irritated that the Garrison didn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation.

"The Garrison don't trust us so I don't trust them. I'm not letting them take Lance," Keith reached out to the angel and protectively pulled him closer. "We're leaving this city and I need you to come with us, Shiro."

Pidge's eyes lit up at the mention of her plan, sounds like Keith was definitely in then. Pulling out a map from her bag, she points at a cross she made. "This is where we need to go to find our next weapon. We can run away, it's about a day's drive away so that will put some distance between us and the Garrison." She explained.

"The Garrison warned me if we tried to run away that we could be thrown in jail." Shiro responded, "but at the moment, we don't really have time to listen to the authorities. This is bigger than us, maybe even the end world. So I'm in with this plan."

Everyone grinned at each and immediately sprung into action. Shiro took Pidge back to her house to come up with an excuse for her being gone to her mother and to keep an eye on her while she gathered together her tech and other necessities for the trip. No one knew how long they were going to be, at the moment accessing the weapons was going to be hard.

Lance found himself helping Keith pack up his clothes and empty the cupboard of snacks and such as Lance didn't own much himself.

"Have you been on a road trip before?" Lance cocked his head curiously as Keith rummaged around in his wardrobe for some old backpacks.

"Once. When Shiro brought me to this city." Keith answered hesitantly.

"Was it fun?"

That question brought back many memories Keith had pushed to the back of his mind, trying to desperately forget. He hated thinking about his life before Shiro, his life basically started when they met for the first time.

"Keith?" Lance prodded him, noticing a sudden change in Keith's body language.

"I don't want to talk about it," Keith snapped aggressively.

"I was just asking..." Lance felt slightly taken aback by Keith's hostile response.

"Well it's none of your business. Stop prying," He was well aware he was over reacting but something about those memories sent Keith behind his walls, where he couldn't be vulnerable or open himself up to anyone.

"No need to be like that," Lance huffed, it wasn't a particularly intrusive question.

Keith swung round, flinching at the pain in his shoulder, "be like what exactly? Stop being so damn nosy and leave me alone!" He lashed out at Lance. He threw one of the backpacks at him but Lance swiftly caught it.

"Fine! Whatever you want." Lance spoke angrily as he stalked out the room. Why did he get so defensive after a simple question? Was there something more to this that Keith wasn't telling him?

While Lance was stuffing his toothbrush and few clothing items into his bag his mind was churning trying to figure out what could have possibly happened in Keith's past. In the end, Lance came to the conclusion that he could have been through anything; he shuddered at the memories of the impure people tainting the beauty of humanity and the days where he swore never to return here. In his home everyone was knitted together in the perfect community and the sheltered life Lance had lead before was disappearing before his eyes. The change he went through, trying to adapt to the human world was the most stressful task Lance had ever undertaken coupled with trying to protect these people from the wrath of the Galra.

After about an hour Shiro pulled up in his range rover with Pidge in the front seat and Keith and Lance loaded their supplies into the trunk before piling themselves into the backseats. They both had similar scowls etched onto their faces as they avoided looking at anyone and both glared out of their respective windows.

Holding in a giggle at the sullen boys, Pidge switched on the radio as Shiro started the car and started driving through the city ready to leave, not knowing when they would return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soz nothing happened in this chapter i tried i swear

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!! this is my first fanfic that i have posted here so i hope you enjoy!!! feel free to give me tips as i always strive for improvement hehe


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